Fruit snacks are one of those things that I completely forgot about once I entered high school. You know what I’m talking about…foods that you really enjoy, but just never think about? That’s where fruit snacks are with me. My wife bought a few packs of them a while back, and I swore I was going to eat one, but by the time I remembered, she had eaten them all.
All that changed when she put a THIRTY-TWO pack of Lunch Buddies Fruit Snacks in our shopping cart one day. Thirty-two packs? Where were we shopping, Sam’s Club? Costco? Nope. Aldi! And the entire box is only $3.49, which isn’t at all a bad deal if you ask me. Again, these aren’t things that we eat all the time, but the entire box lasted us about six months of on-again-off-again snacking.
Each box contains six flavors: Strawberry, fruit punch, grape, orange, green apple, and cherry. One thing I definitely like about these is that there’s no confusion as to what each flavor is…all of the fruit snacks look like the fruit they’re copying, so you know what you’re getting. I also like the texture a lot…some fruit snacks are too chewy, or too hard, but I thought these struck a perfect balance between softness and chewiness.
Of all the flavors contained within, I would have to say the strawberry is my favorite, and this coming from a guy who’s generally not a fan of strawberry foods in general. I love the actual fruit, but like a lot of processed treats based off fruits, strawberry snacks tend to have a cartoonishly over-exaggerated flavor. These were no exception, but I ended up liking them anyway. The strawberries also seem to have a stronger flavor than most of the others, too, especially the green apple, which is good, but fairly weak.
Really, the only downside I can find is that there are so many flavors, most packages have a very unbalanced flavor count. While six different fruits might not sound like a lot of variety, when there are only about twelve fruit snacks in each package, chances are good that you’re not going to get to try all of them. For example, the last one I opened had about five strawberries, three green apple, two oranges, and one grape. So I didn’t get to try a cherry or a fruit punch in that package. Of course, I had 31 other packages to explore, so it wasn’t a problem for me, but if you’re just getting one then you might not get a good mix of flavors.
Overall: 8.5/10. These are just about the perfect fruit snacks, and to get 32 packs of them for just $3.49…well that’s incredible! They are soft and perfectly chewy, and while I liked the strawberry the best, there were none that I didn’t like. I will say that some taste relatively weak compared to others (the green apple, at least in my opinion, didn’t have as strong a flavor as I was expecting), but that’s not a big deal. For the price, they’re great for children’s lunches, and for adults, as a great throwback snack to childhood.
I haven't had any kind of fruit snacks since I was in grade school, however I pack one in my daughter's lunch every day. Plus, she likes to eat one as an after school snack. I don't think I've ever seen the larger boxes of the stuff though, just the smaller ones which come with [I think] only 8 or 10 packs, for $1.59. Compared to what is sold at other supermarkets this isn't a bad price at all.
I don't know the last time I had apple sauce, my daughter likes apple sauce but will only eat it if it has cinnamon. Our local grocer sells "100% natural" cinnamon apple sauce with no added sugar (apples are very sweet as it is) which I like to surprise her with once in awhile. I believe they sell the stuff in packs of 3 for $3, so not cheap by many standards but since they don't include any unnecessary preservatives it's not bad deal.
In all honesty, I wrote this review somewhere around two years ago and just got around to posting it, so it's actually been a while since I've had fruit snacks, too, lol. I did notice Aldi now has "Fruit & Veggie" snacks, which I want to try…I think they're just supposed to taste like fruit snacks, but with both fruit and veggie juices used. That sounds interesting.
The applesauce was also eaten around a year ago (haha, I have way too many of these backlogged), and I don't think I've technically had any since then. But I have had everything in the Little Journey Organics line, and since virtually all of them have apple in them, and an applesauce consistency, I guess they're kind of like modified applesauces.
I love the cinnamon stuff, and those all natural ones you speak of sound good! Pricey, like you said, but since there's not all that added junk, I'd be more apt to spend the money on something like that. I think the quickest way to get me to try anything is to put cinnamon in it, lol.
Super late but "cartoonish" was a lovely way to describe over the top artificial flavor and one I haven't seen in reference to food before 🙂
Haha, thank you! You can only use the same "mainstream" food descriptions over and over before they get old and you have to start thinking outside the box, haha.
Like these and feels healthier to eat them than the Haribo gummies. One pet peeve. There are VERY FEW cherry ones. I only find about 1 every 3-4 bags. I'm going to have to try another brand because I need CHERRY GUMMIES.
I hear ya…I've noticed that too, where the flavor distribution is way off in certain gummy brands. I mean, do they only make a quarter of the cherries compared to every other flavor? It's very odd.
I love these fruit snacks! I eat them all the time. The other day I actually came across a cinnamon flavored fruit chew on the variety pack. Never had any in all the other packs I’ve eaten.
Whaaaaat?! How’d it taste? I wish I was lucky enough to get a pack with that in it, lol. It’s such an odd, unexpected flavor to get out of a fruit snack. Glad you agree that they’re tasty, cinnamon chews notwithstanding, lol.